You have to be confident in your training of the techniques you are taught and your ability to apply them. What it boils down to is whether or not you have been taught proper application of whatever MA you are learning.

Well it's a hard question to anwser because i think most people misunderstand how martial arts were ment to be used in combat. for instance i don't think that super low stances or pre-set movements were ment to be used in actual combat i personally think that those things were only created to learn and practice in a simple and practical way also i think things like that are mostly for conditioning the body not so much to be used in combat. i think probably in combat they used their technices but in a free form sort of fluid way like they should be used. people watch to many movies. and people pay to much attention to movies and what they hear instead of useing their common sense and logical reasoning. but of course these are how i believe things, so it's just my opinions but many opinions can be true. i look at things in a very realistic and logical way so i bring that same train of thought into the way i do martial arts. so what i am really saying is basiclly wushu works depending on the person and how they adapt their wushu to work in real life and not how they see it in movies and or forms. I myself consider the way i think to be of jeet kuen do logic. i learn something and adapt it to work how i need it to not how someone else thinks it should be. so in that way i'm a non traditionalist when it comes to martial arts. i believe things can and should always be improved not stay the same much like how some people blindly followe styles and they don't think for them selves. and when i say that i only mean to whom it applies so take no offence with what i say after all this is a place that opinions are surposed to be shared. anyway people can take things how they want to i just wish people would be more evolving and adaptive. so that's some of my opinion on this subject i hope it helped or contributed in some contructive way. ok ttyl and peace to all.

You think about it that way and over look all logic of practical use just because they've been around so long people are blinded and believe the hype and the fiction that is traditional martial arts. no offence intended this is just how i see it because i look at things in a very realistic way. i think you should read over my last post as a whole and then the details then really try to consider and understand what i was saying but that's completely up to you. to me it's no secret that traditional martial arts are not that effective in real life in a self defence sort of way. now if you simplify these traditional martial arts down to the most basic and simple movements and idea's i believe they can work realisticly that way but not traditionally of course sometimes people can make them work in surtain conditions but i think 9 out of 10 times it will fail them in combat if used in a traditional manner. people are to attached emotionally and mental to their martial arts to see the truth and really understand. for instance and i am only talking about for self defence real life situations anyway for instance you take a two year pratitioner of tai chi, or let's say animal kung fu such as dragon, crane, snake, you know what i mean, anyways put this kung fu martial artist up against a two year kickboxer, i'm willing to bet that the kickboxer wins 8 or 9 out of 10 trys. the reason for this is that the kickboxer is useing the most basic and simple of technics and in martial arts we all know that simplicity equals effectiveness in combat. and if simplicity equals effectiveness in combat i would have to say that kickboxing or boxing would be the most effective tool for self defence of course you could add in some moves to give you more angles to work from but not many because all angles are basiclly the same anyway you either punch the person or you block it doesn't require much thought or you can always evade which isn't that easy in combat either so i go with aggressive offence, attack hard and fast before he does. and i am not at all for low stances their ok for building endurance but should never really be used in real life combat. i mean it's like this, yes you might could make some kung fu styles work ok if your good enough at them but even then their still unrealistic because they waste to much energy on useless technics. and i'm not saying that you can't win a street fight useing wushu but i am saying that it greatly lowers your chances. but it depends on the person your fighting to, if the person your fighting is ok at boxing then kung fu i don't think will be very effective on the streets but when i say kung fu i mean the traditional methods if you simplify your traditional martial arts and carve them in a way that makes them more suitable for the street then yes they can work effectively that way. and when i said all this i was talking about traditional kung fu. and i mean no offence but logically and realisticlly i've used such technics in real life in sparring and their not very effective a simple jab or hook would work much better. for instance you could take a traditional martial art and modify it and simplify it for self defence but you would need to costume modify it spesificly for self defence use then it could work well. things that do not change with time to adapt and reform should not remain they should be forgotten and something more pratical and more effective should be put in their place. but if you just practice tma for fun or you think they look cool by all means keep doing so but if you practice tma for self defence and nothing more then i believe that your causing a great injustice for yourself and for today's martial arts. because you must change with change. things that do not change with change become ineffective and useless. i do not have anything against tma's i love the tma movies and their fun to practice but for self defence reasons they are not good at all, unless you modify them for today's needs. the thing is on the streets if everyone used the same martial art you used to fight with they might would be effective but that's just not the case people don't use tma's on the streets. anywho i hope i didn't offend and i think if you realisticly and in a logical way try to understand everything i've said then i believe you would get my point. well peace to all and godspeed.